


11.7cm (and the distance between)

by Aissu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cooking - the kind of disastrous you never see coming, Established Relationship, Getting Together, M/M, Massage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-05-13 10:48:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5704828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aissu/pseuds/Aissu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All UkaTake Tumblr prompt fills from grandpa-crows will be uploaded here. Tags updated with fills. Feel free to send prompts <a href="http://grandpa-crows.tumblr.com/">here</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ukatake: massage - Takeda is very stressed and it has begun causing him back pain. His lover, Ukai, gives him a nice relaxing back massage to help loosen him up. (Or maybe he hurt his back, any reason is fine, just make sure you have fun writing this!)  
> \- Anonymous

Takeda’s mind was a clutter of literary jargon; ranging from the passionate arguments in his students’ essays about the adaptation of Western literary conventions in Japanese works to scrawls of “Sensei, I’m tired” and “Sensei, don’t worry, I think your glasses look cool!” along the edges of the papers. An involuntary yawn escaped him and he slipped off his glasses to rub at his bloodshot eyes. He squinted to look at the time on his phone and the brightness that emanated when he tapped on it was enough to give him a splitting headache.

It was 2a.m. and he had to leave at 7 if he wanted to be on time to school.

He was about to turn back to the stack of papers when he noticed there was a notification sitting at the bottom of the screen. He fumbled with the sliding button a little (to his defence, he had just become accustomed to using a smartphone) and managed to unlock the phone to show a message from Ukai.

 ****_> > **Don’t sleep too late, Sensei.**_  
_**You look very tired lately.**_  
_**I’ll see you at club practice tomorrow!**_

The teacher’s lips curved into a fond smile as he lay his chin on the table for a moment, running his eyes over the lines over and over. While it was still hard to believe the Coach had professed his love to him over a cup of tea at the local café, the thoughtful messages and mysterious bentos slipped into his bag some mornings were a constant reminder of how blessed he was. He sat up straight, wincing at the twinge in his lower back. He lightly pressed a clenched fist to his back and sides, hoping to relieve the ache. Pain hardly alleviated a few minutes later, he resumed grading his students’ works. It was the time of the year when students handed in their projects and he had to spend many a sleepless night marking through them and wondering how to encourage them along.

He persevered, nonetheless. His students were precious to him and he wanted to do the best he could for them. With that thought in mind, he picked up his red pen and put his glasses back on.

Time to get to work.

* * *

Ukai was highly amused.

A loud shout of “Dumbass!” echoed once again in the gym as Kageyama towered over the significantly smaller middle blocker cowering before him, his face contorted in rage. Tsukishima walked past the two with Yamaguchi in tow, a towel slung over his shoulder. He gave the two a disdainful glance before turning to say something to the freckled middle blocker who snickered in return.

There was never a dull moment with the Karasuno Volleyball team. The Coach watched as Daichi turned his terrifying glare on the arguing pair who immediately separated without another word and resumed practicing their spikes.

The telling squeak of the gym door sliding open had him turning to take a look at who had entered. Ukai broke into a small smile without even realising as the Faculty Advisor stepped in, his usually large, vibrant brown eyes now droopy and accentuated by eyebags. Smile quickly morphing into a frown, Ukai stepped forward a second too late when Tanaka shouted “Watch out, Take-chan!” and the black-haired teacher looked down at the shirt that had been haphazardly placed on the edge of the courts. With a yelp, he tumbled down onto the floor, landing on his back.

Ukai didn’t miss the grimace that crossed Takeda’s face for an instant and he strode over to his lover, reaching down help him up. Sugawara ran over and supported the teacher from the other side and they pulled him up. He gave them an abashed grin and adjusted his glasses that had been knocked askew.

“Thank you,” he managed and adjusted his clothes. Ukai noted with concealed delight that Takeda’s grip on his wrist had lingered for a second longer than necessary. Tanaka practically flew over and slid before the teacher on his knees, promptly folding into a ball of remorse as he apologised for the shirt he had thrown carelessly onto the floor.

“It’s fine, I’m okay,” the teacher assured the teary second-year and pushed him back into practice. As Ukai watched the teacher, he realised that Takeda was hunching somewhat, leaning forward slightly.

“Ukai-kun?” Takeda glanced up at him questioningly, the tip of his ears still red from the embarrassment of tripping before the entire team.  

“’S nothing, Sensei,” he shook his head and guided the teacher to a chair. “You should sit down for now, anyways.” The blond heard a sharp intake of breath almost immediately and he narrowed his eyes.

Something was up.

* * *

“Actually, my back _has_ been hurting for quite a while now,” Takeda admitted, averting his gaze from Ukai’s as he reached to turn off the lights in the empty gym.

“Thought so,” Ukai grunted, not pleased that the teacher had been enduring it for a while. “I could tell from the way you walked after the fall.”

“It’s not that bad, anyways.” After a look at Ukai’s stormy expression, he added, “I think.”

“Sensei, you don’t take care of yourself well enough. Have you been eating properly? Look at these eye bags,” the Coach sighed, thumbing the dark circles under Takeda's thick frames.

“It’s the busiest time of the year,” Takeda grinned apologetically as they walked out of the gym. “I have a lot of papers to mark. Plus there is a lot more to do for the team now, but that’s not a problem. It makes me so happy to see the boys picking themselves up and aiming for the best. Ah-” he paused mid-sentence, rubbing his back. “It’s really worsened over the past few hours.”

“It’s probably stress-induced,” Ukai told him, hand placed lightly on his back. “Say, Sensei, uhm,” he ran a hand through his hair, a pink hue dusting his cheeks, “what do you say to a massage? It’ll help you feel better.”

Takeda turned to Ukai in surprise before a disarming smile overtook his features. “That sounds wonderful, Ukai-kun! Thank you!”

“Yeah, no problem,” Ukai muttered, scratching his cheek as the teacher continued to watch wide eyes.  

* * *

Ukai walked out of the shower, drying his hair with the towel Takeda had placed for him on the nights he stayed over. His hair fell over his eyes now that it was without the hairband he usually had on. Takeda was lying face down on the bed at his insistence, his eyes flitting occasionally to the stack of papers that were on his desk. He livened up some upon seeing Ukai and he resisted the urge to sit up, knowing it would only aggravate the pain in his back.

“I know I told you before but I really like it when you let your hair down like that,” he told the younger man unabashedly. That had the 26-year-old to blushing furiously and he sat on the edge of the bed, muttering “Geez, Sensei…” Takeda laughed at his response and Ukai couldn’t help but press a chaste kiss to the back of his neck.  

The blond repositioned himself and lifted the back of Takeda’s shirt to expose his back. The black-haired man shivered despite himself, pulling the pillow at the head of the bed towards himself. “It’s awfully cold tonight.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll have forgotten about that when I’m done with you,” Ukai teased and the two burst into laughter.

Ukai touched Takeda’s lower back, adding a little pressure and withdrawing when his eyebrow scrunched up. “Relax, Sensei,” he rubbed circles soothingly on the man’s back and Takeda breathed out, relaxing the muscles that had tensed. Ukai began massaging the teacher with small, circular motions and gradually increased the pressure while kneading the skin that had tensed.

Takeda cringed when Ukai hit what felt like a cluster of nerves. “Ow,” he groaned, wriggling a bit to get rid of the feeling and Ukai dragged his thumb gently across the area.

“Can you tell me where it feels tender, Sensei?”

Takeda nodded as Ukai’s fingers travelled around the area, biting his lip when they hit the spot. “There,” he muttered.

“Alright, take a deep breath,” Ukai continued, not pausing the constant motion with his hands and Takeda rolled his shoulders before inhaling deeply. The Coach’s fingers prodded at Takeda’s skin before he pressed harder into the sore area. Takeda evened his breath as Ukai’s wide hands splayed across his lower back, unwinding the tense muscles.

“How is it, Sensei?” Ukai leaned over to take a look at his lover’s face. Takeda gave him a wide smile, his eyes droopy as if he were at the height of relaxation.

“It really feels good, Ukai-kun. And it’s a lot warmer now.”

Ukai returned the smile, feeling accomplished. “Anytime, Sensei.”

He continued the massage, feeling the tension slowly leave Takeda’s body and when he turned to look at the teacher again, he realised that Takeda had fallen asleep. His glasses were pressed to his nose and squished against the pillow. Finishing up the massage, Ukai pulled away the glasses before they left an indention on the older man’s nose and placed them on the drawer. He pulled Takeda’s shirt down and leaned down to press a lingering kiss on his cheek. The rush of affection that coursed through him was overwhelming. He really did love this wonderful man.

He stood up and walked out of the room after turning the lights off.

“Good night, Sensei.”

* * *

Takeda woke up to his alarm ringing insistently and he caught his phone before it vibrated right off the drawer and landed on his head. He rubbed his eyes blearily and put on his glasses, shoulders sagging at the wonderfully sore feeling in his lower back. With a start, he remembered the previous night and nearly fell out of bed. To think that he had fallen asleep on his lover! He pinched the bridge of his nose and walked out to the dining room. A white slip of paper next to a plate of food on the table caught his attention and he read the note scrawled in Ukai’s telltale handwriting.

“I hope you rested well, Sensei. Have a good breakfast. I’ll be waiting for you at the store.”

He beamed despite himself.

“Thank you, Ukai-kun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whaaa i love this kind of relationship where you don't need a lot of physical affirmation to know that there truly is a lot of love.  
> i know nothing about massages i hope it was good enough orz


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> High school au?  
> \- stregina

“Check that out,” Takinoue peered out of the window, abandoning his Literature homework for whatever had caught his interest. The chances of that being a girl’s skirt blown up were pretty damn high. Ukai grunted in response and continued leafing through the magazine at hand.

“Don’t you have anything else to read?” the blond plopped back down, leaning over the table to give the volleyball magazine a cursory glance. “Wait no, don’t answer that. Y’know, one of these days, I might have to invent a new word.”

Ukai looked up. “What?”

“Volleyphilia? Gramps-con? ”

“Don’t be an asshat,” Ukai whacked the boy’s shoulder with the magazine.

Takinoue gave him a wide grin before pushing himself off the seat with zest. “I’m gonna go find Shimada. Wanna come?”

“We don’t have time before ModLit. And you still haven’t finished your work.”

“Oh come on, forget about that!” Takinoue grabbed him in a suffocating headlock. “I’m sure he misses us.”

“We just saw him _yesterday_ , Yuu,” Ukai choked, struggling to pull the boy’s arms away.

Before the taller boy could reply, the door slid open and in walked the substitute teacher. For a good few seconds, the chatter died down before gasps of disbelief tore through the class.

“Is that the sub?” Takinoue gaped, eyeing the small man standing at the board with disbelief. “He’s friggin’ tiny!”

The man (boy?) stumbled over a bit of chalk lying on the floor and steadied himself at the desk, clearing his throat.

“Good morning class! I’m sure your Yamauchi-sensei has already informed you. I’m Takeda Ittetsu and I’ll be subbing in as your Modern Japanese Literature teacher for this year. I hope to establish a strong rapport with all of you and I’ll do my best to make my classes engaging. Thank you!” He bowed so low Ukai thought he’d knock his head on the table. Not only was the man of a slight build, he barely looked older than them. If anything, he would’ve believed anyone who told him that Takeda was a freshman.

“Now,” the man straightened up, pushing his ridiculously round glasses up. He gave them a bright smile. “Does anyone have any questions?”

“Sensei, are you actually qualified?!”

Up went Takeda’s eyebrows before a huff of laughter escaped him. Ukai had half expected him to be affronted instead.

“Even the teachers here asked me to show my license. Well, despite how I look,” he gestured at himself, “I can assure you I’m perfectly qualified.”

“How old are you, Sensei?” one of the girls raised her hand.

He gave them a sheepish look. “Twenty-one.”

“No way!” the girls groaned, thumping their heads against the tables. “Sensei, you’re way too youthful!”

“Well, you’re young and there’s a whole wide world out there, Sensei. What made ya want to come here and teach?”

“I love Modern Japanese Literature,” he answered, his eyes practically shining. “And teaching has been something I’ve enjoyed doing since my student days. I was offered a post here and I decided to give it a try. All of you are my very first students. I hope to give you the proper guidance to help you soar as you prepare for graduation.”

Ukai looked out of the window, lost in the vast blue that was the sky.

To soar. If only.

* * *

“Ukai, Shimura is injured. You’ll take his position as starter.”

The black-haired boy stood still, his fist curling up before he could even force the acknowledgement out of his mouth.

“Understood.”

The win was nothing worth mentioning. As the timer beeped, signalling Karasuno’s victory, Takinoue and Shimada jumped him. They ruffled the sparse growth of hair on his head and the entire team was near drunk with joy. It was Coach Ukai’s sharp reminder of “This game is only the first!” that brought them out of their post-game haze. Keishin watched from the bench for the following games as the very boy he had helped out over two years resumed his place as the team’s starting setter.

Under his grandfather’s demonic coaching, the team won the championship. As the spectators roared and his teammates dashed from the bench onto the court, time stilled. They lifted Shimura up, tossing him in the air. As he forced himself into a run, the thrumming of his heart in his ears was the only thing he could feel.

_If only. If only I could’ve been there._

Thus ended Ukai’s thee-year high school volleyball career. The shrapnels of regret would manifest in his dreams and he would wake with an outstretched hand, reaching for a ball he could never reach. In those dreams, his grandfather watched. Silent.

The famous Coach Ukai. And his miserable grandson. The one who had failed to make his mark in the history of Karasuno’s well-known volleyball team.

* * *

“Ukai-kun, are you sure you’re eating properly?”

“How’d you find even this place, Sensei?” Keishin pushed a lock of blond hair out of his face. “You’re like some ninja.”

“So I’ve been told,” Takeda chuckled, uninvited but taking a seat next to Ukai nonetheless.

“Are you planning on becoming a delinquent?”

Ukai choked on his melon bread and it took a few minutes for him to regain his composure. “Sensei, _what-_ ”

“I mean, now that you guys have all stopped your club activities. And you grow out your hair, then suddenly you turn up to school with piercings and your hair dyed blond.”

“Yuu told me to give it a try,” he mumbled. “My parents didn’t protest to it much. The whole buzzcut thing was because of volleyball anyway.”

“Oh well, that’s a relief,” Takeda patted his back. “You look good like that, in any case.”

Heat rushed to Ukai’s cheeks as he struggled to come up with a response. In the end, he gave up and resorted to aggressively finishing up his bread.

“Do you miss volleyball?” Takeda asked in such a hushed tone that Ukai would’ve missed it if he hadn’t been paying attention.

“I don’t,” he looked down. “If anything, I’m glad it’s over.”

Takeda looked at him. “I heard you’re exceptional at coaching your underclassmen.”

“Were,” Ukai corrected him. “I don’t do that anymore.”

“Hmm,” Takeda mused. “I see. I watched a few of the volleyball matches with some other teachers.”

Ukai looked up, eyes widening. “You did?”

“Yeah. Your grandfather seems rather scary. He has this sort of aura?”

“Yeah,” Ukai gave him a wry grin. “Imagine living with that terror for all your life.”

“But you love him.” Takeda stated, as if it were absolute.

“I do,” Ukai sighed, leaning against the wall. “All these years just running, jumping, bruising just to have one old man tell me he’s proud of me.”

“What about you?” Takeda prodded. “Did you make yourself proud?”

“Proud?” Ukai gave the teacher a bitter smile. “I devoted all my high school life to volleyball and I was a starter in one match. Just one. And it wasn’t glorious or anything of the sort.”

“Yet you stood up,” Takeda squeezed his shoulder. Ukai looked into the smaller man’s wide, milk chocolate eyes. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he noted that the glasses made his eyes look even bigger and wow, Takeda’s eyelashes were awfully long and pretty.

“You kept trying even though it didn’t work out. You know, Ukai-kun, I don’t know if you’ll ever think of your high school volleyball experience as an achievement. But one thing I’m sure of is that you’ll never regret the sweat and tears you put in. I think that’s much better than thinking about all the things that could’ve been if you had put in just a little more.”

The words struck somewhere deep in Ukai’s heart.

“Good work,” his grandfather had said as he left the court.

“There,” Takeda rose to his feet, adjusting his glasses. “I think I’ve taken up enough of your time. Thank you for sharing with me, Ukai-kun. Let’s work hard towards your graduation!”

“Thanks, Sensei,” Ukai looked. “I mean it. I guess I’ll go talk to my old man one of these days.” The older man gave him a warm smile and Ukai’s heart fluttered.

“Anytime, Ukai-kun. Come find me whenever you want.”

* * *

Ukai was dusting the shelves, enjoying the quietude and humming a folk song to himself. That was, until he turned and saw a face squished up against the glass window of the show. He yelled loudly and nearly tripped over himself.

“Sensei?!”

“‘Morning, Ukai-kun,” the teacher gave him a cheeky look. “How are you this fine morning?”

The tips of his ears burning a bright red, Ukai mumbled a response before collecting himself. He was a twenty-two-year-old for Heavens’ sake! “I haven’t seen you in a while, Sensei.”

“A while! You mean four years! And you’ve grown into a fine young man,” the teacher appraised him. “So, about that text you sent?”

(“ _Duuude_ , can you like pop your cherry already? Seriously? If you got the hots for Sensei, then grab ‘im and tell him so!”)

“Yeah,” Ukai rubbed the back of his neck, his heart thudding way too loudly in his ears. “Uh,” he swallowed. “Shall we go out for dinner? After you finish work?”

Takeda gave him the most dazzling smile and Ukai felt his knees go weak.

“Took you long enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alksjdflj buzzcut keishin is to die for  
> and i'm so sorry the amount of ukatake despite this being exclusively ukatake is really very little  
> i hope it's enjoyable, nonetheless. thank you!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cooking together?  
> \- Anonymous

For most people, their greatest fears lay somewhere amongst eight-legged horrors and impossible heights. Ukai noted that Takeda, however, held a firm belief that his mother was a Kraken and would soon be coming to swallow him up.

“Sensei, shall I take over?”

Takeda looked at him, his nose all scrunched up and his glasses sliding down his nose bridge.

“Am I doing it wrong?”

Ukai laughed. “No, but I think you’re offering the ants a little too much.”

With a start, Takeda looked at the cup of sugar in his hands and then the sprinkles on the counter. He yelped in shock and placed the cup on the edge before running over to the cabinet to grab a cloth.

“I didn’t even realise what I was doing. Thanks, Ukai-kun.”

“It’s no problem, Sensei. Are you really that worried?”

“Well, it _has_ been quite a while since I’ve seen my parents. I call them from time to time and it’s always me who goes over for dinner. Not the other way around.”

“Isn’t that a good thing, then? Maybe they want to see how you’ve been holding up after you left home.”

“Think of it like this, Ukai-kun.” Takeda hauled a bag of all-purpose flour onto the counter and pulled out a pair of scissors. “This,” the teacher prodded the paper bag, “is me. And this,” he snipped the air with the scissors, “is when my parents get here.”

He cut the top off carefully, revealing the flour inside. “Now do you see?” He looked up at Ukai, his expression deadly serious.

The coach attempted to keep a straight face before he burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. “Honestly, Sensei? Is it that bad?”

Takeda poked him with a wooden spatula until his shoulders stopped shaking and he had regained some semblance of calm. “You might not believe me now,” the older man told him, “but soon, you’ll understand.” With that ominous statement, he went on to measure the flour and sift it with the baking powder.

Stomach still aching from laughing too hard, Ukai put softened butter in a mixing bowl along with the sugar that the black-haired man had measured out earlier. He picked up the electronic beater by the side and began beating the ingredients, raising his voice so that Takeda could hear him over the loud whirring.

“Say, Sensei, why’d you decide to bake a cake? Since they’re coming over for tea as well, I thought you’d suggest something like _daifuku_.”

“Father told me that my mother has been craving cakes lately. She was watching some serial that involved cooking the last time I visited. She even had this entire album dedicated to different kinds of cakes,” Takeda chuckled.

Ukai snickered. “I see where you got your dedication and persistence.”

Takeda lightly punched Ukai’s shoulder in response and waited for him to finish beating the batter, glance flitting to the blond’s face on occasion.

The phone rang and the pair exchanged looks before Takeda rushed out. Ukai turned the beater off and cracked an egg, straining to hear his lover’s muffled voice in the distance. He didn’t have to wait long to find out what the call had been about. Takeda ran back in, nearly tripping over the mat at the entrance. Ukai was torn between cracking another egg and running forward to help the teacher.

“Sensei, who was it?” he asked as Takeda righted himself.

“My mother! And she says they’ll be here in an hour!”

Ukai froze, egg held above the bowl. “I thought they’d be here only in about three hours or so.”

“I should’ve realised she’d try to give us a false sense of security and see whether we dilly-dallied!”

Ukai gaped in disbelief. “What do we do?”

“We can finish the cake, at least. Come on, Ukai-kun, don’t give up hope!” They buzzed around the kitchen, Takeda making tea while Ukai continued to beat the mixture, praying the cake would turn out good enough to impress his lover’s mother. Wait. It dawned on him then that he was about to meet Takeda’s _parents_ for the first time and he was in no way prepared.

“Sensei, is it really okay to stay around when your parents come?”

“Of course it is!” Takeda turned to him. “It’d be wonderful to introduce you to them.”

“They’ll probably think I’m a brute,” nervous laughter escaped Ukai as he set the beater down.

“Nonsense!” Takeda declared, wrapping his arms around Ukai’s waist from behind. He pressed his cheek against the taller man’s back, giving him a comforting squeeze. “Even if I protest, they’ll definitely take to you and drag you back home with them.”

Ukai grasped Takeda’s hands gingerly, trying not to get the remnants of butter on him. “I’m not sure that makes me feel better, Sensei.”

“I chose you, Ukai-kun. Have more confidence in yourself,” the teacher released him as Ukai shifted to face him. Looking into Takeda’s unwavering eyes, Ukai felt a deep sense of relief.

His lips curved into a wide smile. “Thanks, Sensei. I love you.”

Takeda’s cheeks gained a charming flush almost immediately and the two jumped apart when the alarm they had set began ringing.

“Quick!” Ukai ran to the oven to check the temperature. Takeda picked up the pan with the cake mixture and rushed over.

It happened in a span of seconds; Takeda, losing his footing on a slippery tile. The pan, flying up in the air. Dual gasps of horror and Ukai reaching up to grab it. Ukai, stepping on Takeda’s hand and falling on his back with a definite ‘thump’. The pan, falling. Takeda rolling in pain. The pan, resting on Ukai’s head.

“Fuck.”

They lay there for a few minutes as batter dripped down Ukai’s face and down his neck.

And then they were snorting and laughing, trying to gather themselves. Takeda crawled forward, helping Ukai pull the pan off him. He ran his hands through the blond’s hair bathed in the mixture. He already smelled like a would-have-been butter cake.

“That was silly,” Takeda slid next to Ukai. “I should’ve been more careful.”

Ukai dipped his finger in the bowl and tasted the batter. “Nah, it’s fine this way too.”

Takeda burst into another fit of laughter and the two lay on the floor until the bell rang. They jumped up on their feet and Ukai looked helplessly at Takeda. The older man gave him a small smile and took his hand.

“Let’s go make an impression.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (they made an impression alright)
> 
> daifuku looks so good although i've never tried it-  
> and i really want to try taiyaki one day /ugly sobbing
> 
> in any case, ukatake cooking on a lazy sunday morning sounds good too, with blueberry pancakes and aprons and lots of cuddly time but. i had fun, and i regret a little that i couldn't introduce my take on takeda's parents but maybe i'll do that another time.
> 
> in other news, i was thinking really hard about them but i messed up and my brain went "ukeda" and "takai"   
> /still screaming/


End file.
